Jesse Kline: B.C. crusade seeks more restrictions on outdoor smokers

Canadian Cancer Society's B.C. outdoor smoking ban goes too far

That the Canadian Cancer Society is urging the B.C. government to “strengthen the Tobacco Control Regulation to include greater protection in outdoor areas” — including patios and parks — goes to show that the work of the tireless anti-smoking crusader never ends.

Three decades ago, when smoking was commonplace in airports, bars and offices, it was almost inconceivable that these areas would one day be smoke free. But the number of places in which smokers can light up has been steadily decreasing over that period of time. First it was elevators, then classrooms and workplaces, then bars and casinos, now it’s beaches and sidewalks.

Granted, some of these restrictions make sense. There is a wealth of evidence showing that prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke can cause serious health problems. Banning the practice in universities and aboard airplanes would thus seem to be a reasonable exercise in public policy.

Beginning in the late 1990s, however, governments started placing restrictions on private-property owners and embarked on campaigns to turn smokers into second-class citizens.

In 1999, Toronto became one of the first Canadian cities to ban smoking in so-called “public places,” including bars, restaurants, pool halls and casinos. Smoking rooms of a certain size were still permitted, but later outlawed. Vancouver followed suit a year later with a similar bylaw.

Provincial governments began implementing their own bans around the turn of the century, as well. Prince Edward Island banned smoking in workplaces and other public spaces in 2002, followed by New Brunswick and Manitoba in 2004.

Alberta was one of the last provinces to bring the full weight of the nanny state down on smokers, with the provincial government introducing legislation in 2006, and the city of Calgary going even further in 2008. One of the most peculiar parts about Calgary’s bylaw is that smoking is not permitted on patios.

I recall, in my former days as a smoker, trying to watch a volleyball game from the patio of a local pub, during Calgary’s annual 4th Street Lilac Festival. Smoking was not permitted on the patio, so smokers were forced to jump the railing to have a cigarette. Only problem was that drinking was not allowed on the street, so there was no way to engage in both vices at the same time. Perhaps this isn’t the biggest problem, but it begs the question: How is smoking half-a-metre away on the sidewalk any less dangerous — to patrons and pedestrians — than remaining on the patio?

While there is evidence that standing within close proximity to someone who is smoking outdoors can have the same health consequences as if it were indoors, there is no evidence to suggest the small level of exposure someone would get in a well-ventilated public space, where people are free to move about, poses any danger to public health. Not only can people easily avoid cigarette smoke outdoors, it is also quick to dissipate.

The Canadian Cancer Society argues that there is “no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke, a fact supported by the U.S. Surgeon General.” But, in a 2011 article in The New York Times, Boston University public-health professor Michael Siegel argues that the Surgeon General’s statement is misleading, as damage to the heart and DNA “requires repeated exposure.”

Considering the lack of scientific evidence to support such a ban, it is likely that the Cancer Society’s push has less to do with protecting the health of people who don’t smoke, and everything to do with changing the behaviour of those who do.

At 14.2%, B.C. already has the lowest rates of smoking in the country. But according to Cancer Society spokesperson Kathryn Seely, an outdoor smoking ban will help “people to quit or to cut back” — a polite way of saying that stricter regulation will force people to smoke less, by taking away their right to light up in the great outdoors.

Smokers are already subject to high taxes and are forced to huddle in the cold in order to get their fix. Outdoor smoking bans put even this practice in jeopardy. Although 30 B.C. communities already have similar bans in place, province-wide legislation would only serve to take the decision away from local policy makers, business owners and the people who choose to engage in this much-maligned, but still legal, practice.